Fast Freddie Frog and Other Tongue-Twister Rhymes: And Other Tongue-Twister Rhymes

``When will the seething sea / Cease seething ceaselessly?'' That burning and difficult-to-say question begins this fun and frenetic anthology of more than 30 tongue-twisters. Drawing on oral tradition, Rees ( Riddles, Riddles Everywhere ; Pun Fun ) has assembled a diverse collection ranging from ``Pop dropped the slop mop / By the puddle of glop / When the cop stopped to hop'' to ``Sally had sixty-six / Slightly sick chicks.'' But as pleasing as the rhymes are in themselves, it is O'Brien's imaginative watercolors and Katy Riegel's design that pull the verses into an integrated, visually appealing whole. With his trademark fine-line crosshatching and silvery palette of turquoise and violet, O'Brien ( Six Sleepy Sheep ; Brother Billy Bronto's Bygone Blues Band ) sets the rhymes in an out-of-kilter world that suggests the work of a benign Edward Gorey. In spreads alive with roiling seascapes, bouncing sheep and flying fish, readers can see Pop flee as the rotund policeman falls on his bum, or Sally as she ministers to row upon row of chicks, reclining in a massive iron bedstead adorned with carved S 's. A visual and verbal treat. Ages 5-8. (Feb.)